. Biology of the Heteromyidae. Heteromyidae. 656 MARES. Fig. 6.—Typical Sonoran Desert habitat near Tucson, Arizona, with columnar cacti {Carne- giea), ocotillo {Fouquieria splendens), and as- sorted shrubs. (Photo: M. A. Mares) American deserts, overall faunal patterns in all four deserts are clear (see MacMahon and Wagner, 1985; West, \9S3b, 1983c, \9S3d, 1983^, for general discussion of the North American desert system). Hetero- myids are among the most abundant and ubiquitous species in each desert. In the most arid portions of the desert, usually only one or two species of small mammals,
. Biology of the Heteromyidae. Heteromyidae. 656 MARES. Fig. 6.—Typical Sonoran Desert habitat near Tucson, Arizona, with columnar cacti {Carne- giea), ocotillo {Fouquieria splendens), and as- sorted shrubs. (Photo: M. A. Mares) American deserts, overall faunal patterns in all four deserts are clear (see MacMahon and Wagner, 1985; West, \9S3b, 1983c, \9S3d, 1983^, for general discussion of the North American desert system). Hetero- myids are among the most abundant and ubiquitous species in each desert. In the most arid portions of the desert, usually only one or two species of small mammals, both het- eromyids, can manage to exist (see Brown and Davidson, 1977; and Brown and Har- ney, this volume, for a discussion of pat- terns of coexistence). The many adaptations of heteromyids to deserts have been discussed elsewhere ( Barman, 1985; Brylski, this volume; Chew, 1965; Eisenberg, 1963, 1975; Hafner, this volume; Lawler and Geluso, 1986; MacMillen, 1-972, 1983; Mares, 1983; McNab, 1979; Nikolai and Bramble, 1983; Reichman, 1983; Schmidt-Nielsen, 1964; Webster, 1962). Basically, almost all species are water-independent, seed-eating, noctur- nal burrow dwellers. They hoard seeds, and several bipedal and quadrupedal species may coexist (Brown, 1973, 1975; Reichman and Price, this volume). Coexisting heteromyids differ in body size, such that each coexisting species is the sole occupant of a body size category (Brown, 1975; Simberloff and Boecklen, 1981). This stepped pattern of body sizes has been interpreted to reflect mechanisms permitting coexistence (Bow- ers and Brown, 1982; Brown, 1975; Brown and Harney, this volume), perhaps on the basis of differential food particle size utili- zation (, Brown and Lieberman, 1973; Mares and Williams, 1977). It is difficult to generalize about species coexistence in the deserts of North America, for the number of species can vary greatly from one site to the next. However, patterns of species co-occurrence have been r
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